Daddy's Little Girl
by KittyKax
Summary: At the demise of his law career, the last thing Phoenix thought he would be taking on is raising a daughter! What lies ahead for Phoenix and Trucy? Can Phoenix be a good daddy?


What the hell was he doing?

Five hours earlier Phoenix was sitting in his office looking up how to file for unemployment, and now here he was going home with an eight year old girl in tow. Was he completely in over his head? He didn't know the first thing about being a parent. Sure, he had younger cousins who he used to watch sometimes growing up, but other than that he had zero experience! But what could he have done? Trucy had no where else to go, and he wasn't about to just throw a little girl out into the streets.

"Daddy?" Phoenix snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a little voice call him, "The driver said we're at our stop." Phoenix looked at the annoyed taxi driver and realized they were in front of his apartment complex. He paid the driver and he and Trucy stepped out of the car.

"Wow Daddy! Your house is huge!" The little girl looked up at the large building, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh! N-no Trucy, this isn't all mine" Phoenix explained when he got what she meant, "This is an apartment complex."

Trucy tilted her head, "What's that?"

"Well it's a building that has multiple units for different people, I only live in one of them."

"Oh." The young girl said understanding.

It was an awkward and quiet walk, the only sounds coming from their feet. When they got to the right apartment Phoenix unlocked the door and him and Trucy walked inside. Phoenix let out a loud yawn as he took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack. It had been a long day for the both of them.

"It's a little late, we should probably call it a night" Phoenix said as he started to head to his bedroom.

"Okay...so where do I sleep?" The ex-laywer stopped in his tracks. Shoot! He didn't even think of that! His apartment only had one bedroom, and he only had one bed...

"Umm...well...I guess for now you're going to have to sleep on the couch. But it's _really_ comfy! Believe me I take naps on it all the time!"

Trucy thought for a moment, "Okay!" She certainly adjusted quickly.

"Did you bring anything with you by chance? A toothbrush? Pajamas?" The little girl shook her head. Phoenix sighed and went to the closet to grab a blanket and a pillow and tossed them on the couch. He then went into the bedroom and came out with an old Ivy University T-shirt for Trucy to wear to bed. Trucy inspected it some before going into the bathroom to change. Phoenix set up a small bed on the sofa and when Trucy came out he could see that she had removed her top hat, cape, gloves, and boots, wearing just the T-shirt. She actually looked like a normal little girl.

"I'm sorry, this is the best I can do for now. Is it alright?" Phoenix asked as Trucy got under the blanket.

"It's okay, Daddy, it _is _very comfy!"

"Well, call me if you need anything alright?" Phoenix tucked the blanket around her small body. He then reached over to turn off the small lamp, then quietly began to exit the room.

"Goodnight, Daddy" Trucy said sleepily as she closed her eyes.

Phoenix stopped and turned his head, staring at the small scene on his couch, his heart warming at the sight, "Goodnight, Trucy."

* * *

"I must say I'm a little confused, Mr. Wright. Why would a young, single, unemployed, and seemingly sane man such as yourself want to take on the responsibility of adopting a child?"

A couple days later Phoenix had gone down to Social Services to discuss his plans to adopt with a social worker. The social worker in charge was a scary woman names Miss Banes. She was thin framed, with her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun, her sharp glasses resting just on the bridge of her nose, and her mouth appeared to be in a constant frown.

"Well...I know it sounds crazy but, I sort of feel like I...owe it to her?" Phoenix answer nervously, "What I mean is, I feel like it's my fault her father went missing in the first place, if I had only..." He stopped when he recalled the events of that unfortunate case. If he had just stuck to his own gut instead of stooping to using the first thing that came to him, maybe he could have gotten Zak declared not guilty. Then maybe, Trucy would still have her _real_ father with her.

"Well I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Wright" The social worker spoke sternly, "You are the last person I would choose to take in this little girl considering your past and what looks like your future as a low-life ex-lawyer."

Phoenix felt as if a hundred shards of ice went through his chest.

"However, you do seem like you really care about the girl, and it would be better than having her go to an orphanage so..." She sighed, "I'm going to let her stay with you on a _trial _basis. I will be checking up on your every week to see how things are going. And as long as her environment is good and she is being well taken care of, then we will go through the steps to adopt."

"R-really?" Phoenix lit up in excitement, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Alright don't get sappy with me." The worker snarled again, "Just remember this is only a _trial. _If I don't see that she is being properly taken care of, then I won't hesitate in taking her."

"Of course! I promise everything will work out!"

"Fine, just get out of here before I change my mind." She didn't have to tell him twice.

* * *

Phoenix was in a good mood as he made his way back to his office. Luckily Larry was between jobs yet again, so when Phoenix offered him some money to watch Trucy for the afternoon he took it with no hesitation. When Phoenix had last called them they told him they were at his office and they had a surprise for him. When he got out of the elevator of the floor where his office was, he could hear giggling coming from the other side of the door. Anxious to see what they had done, Phoenix gingerly opened the door...and it was quite a sight.

"Surprise!" shouted Trucy and Larry jumping with excitement. Phoenix paid no attention however as he examined what was supposed to be his office, but now looked like a magic shop had thrown up on it. There were props everywhere from rings, clubs, scarves, cards, and-a separating box?

"Welcome to the Wright Talent Agency!" Trucy exclaimed twirling in place.

"Trucy and I put it together ourselves! What do you think, Nick?" Larry said with just as much enthusiasm.

"Well I must say you're certainly prepared. But how were you able to get all this stuff?"

"Oh don't worry about it, Nick! We just put it all on your credit card!"

Phoenix swore his heart stopped right then and there, "You...did what?"

"It's so cool, Daddy! All you do is say a number and people give you stuff!"

"You did WHAT?!" Phoenix grabbed Larry's collar with both hands and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Hey! Calm down man, what's the problem?"

"How about the fact that I don't have _a job, _Larry! I can't afford any of this!"

"Well duh, that's why you use a credit card, so you can pay later."

"Get out."

"Hey wait! What about my payment?"

Phoenix looked at Larry with the coldest glare, "Get. Out."

Luckily Larry got the message, "Umm, right, see you later Truce!" and with that he sprinted out the door. All Phoenix could do was sit down on the sofa with his head in his hands, but snapped out of his rage when he heard the small sound of sniffling. He looked up and saw Trucy standing before him, her head down and her body slightly shaking.

"I-I'm sorry, Daddy" The little girl whimpered softly, "I j-just wanted to sh-show you that I was excited about starting our talent agency."

Phoenix immediately felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. Great, third day on the job as a parent, and he already made her cry.

"No, it's alright, Trucy, it's not your fault." Phoenix tried to calm the crying girl to no avail, "Trucy, I'm not mad at you."

Trucy looked up with large eyes, tears staining her cheeks"S-So you-you're not g-going t-t-to throw m-me o-ou-out?"

"What?" Phoenix was taken aback by that statement, "Trucy, No, I would never throw you out! You don't ever have to worry about that, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy!" Trucy perked up much to Phoenix's surprise, she sure bounced back quickly, "That's good because if I had to be on my own, where would I put the Wright Talent Agency?"

"About that, Trucy." Phoenix looked around at the cluttered office, "We're going to have to return this stuff, sorry but we can't afford it right now."

"But how are we going to run the agency without props?"

"Well, like most successful businesses, it's best to start out small. Then once we make profit we expand."

"Ohhh I see what you mean, Daddy!" Trucy understood completely, "We put our name out there as a small business, then when we get people to notice us we make it big!"

"Exactly!" Phoenix tapped Trucy on the nose, which somehow brought Phoenix back into a good mood, "Tell you what Trucy, we'll go return all this stuff, and then we'll go out to eat dinner!"

"Really? Where?"

"You'll see!"

* * *

"What is this, Daddy?" Trucy asked curiously as she and Phoenix stood in front of Eldoon's Noodle Cart.

"It's a noodle stand." Phoenix said very casually, Trucy remained silent, "Wait a minute, you've never had noodles from a cart before?!"

Trucy shook her head.

"Oh wow, then you're really going to love this! Old Man Eldoon makes the best noodles in town!"

Now Trucy was totally excited, so much so that she grabbed Phoenix's arm and dragged him right to the front of the stand. Behind the counter was an old man, around his late 70's, with deep wrinkles formed around his eyes, and the skin around his mouth sagging so much it left his expression in a permanent scowl. He wore an old paper hat on his head and a stained apron. From the outside he looked like your typical old gruff, but once you got to know him, he was like a teddy bear.

"Well now if it isn't the disgrace of a lawyer." Eldoon said hawking spit into a can on the ground.

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Eldoon" Phoenix replied embarrassed, word got around fast it seemed.

"What'll it be, the usual for you?"

"Ah yes and-" Phoenix looked down and noticed Trucy jumping up and down, struggling to see into the cart for herself, "Excuse me."

Trucy felt two strong arms grab her from her waist and lift her to the top of the cart window, giving her a perfect view of the inside. Any other person would have just seen a cruddy old noodle cart that probably hadn't passed a health inspection in years, but what Trucy saw with her large eyes was like she was staring at the Tak Mahal.

"Huh, who's this whippersnapper?" Eldoon asked.

"Oh, this is Trucy"

"He's my Daddy!"

Old Man Eldoon showed an actual face of surprise, "You never told me you had a kid, when did this happen?"

"About 3 days ago actually" Eldoon's eyes grew larger, "Long story."

"Urm, right, so a curry noodle deluxe with extra pork and...?"

"Which one do I get, Daddy?" Trucy asked with concern.

"Ahh never been here before have you?" Eldoon leaned against the window to Trucy's level, "Then you'll want to try the Eldoon Super Special Samurai Surprise!"

Phoenix had never heard of the _Eldoon Super Special Samurai Surprise _before, "What's in it?"

"Fool! If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise!"

"I'll take it!" Trucy chimed excitedly.

"Are you sure, Trucy?"

"Yeah! I like surprises! It's like magic!"

"Magic eh?" Eldoon actually formed a smirked and put his hand on his chin, "I like this kid."

Once their noodles were done, Phoenix paid for them(and unsurprisingly the Eldoon Super Special Samurai Surprise cost twice as much as Phoenix's bowl, but he wasn't going to crush Trucy's spirit)they walked over to a small park bench to devour their dinner. When Phoenix took the lid off his bowl he was greeted to the fragrant aroma of cooked noodles with lots of pork in it, a scent he could get lost in. When Trucy opened the lid on hers however, Phoenix thought his noodles looked like trash in comparison. The Eldoon SSSS was so loaded with veggies, meats, and spices that you couldn't even see the noodles beneath it. Clearly Old Man Eldoon had been holding back all these years.

"If you don't like it, Trucy, then it's okay if you don't finish it." Phoenix reassured the eight year old who probably wouldn't eat half of what was in that bowl.

Trucy broke apart her wooden chopsticks and poked gently into the pile of food until she managed to grab some noodles. The young magician examined the strand a noodles for a second, and then loudly slurped them into her mouth.

Trucy's face lit up with happiness, "Wow, this is really good, Daddy!" Trucy beamed as she dug into her bowl, eating every last bite. It was reassuring for Phoenix to see that Trucy wasn't a picky eater. As he ate his own noodle dish though, he couldn't help but be a little jealous of the girl next to him. Maybe next time he'll get an Eldoon SSSS himself. Trucy was happily guzzling down her broth when Phoenix finished his bowl. She looked absolutely thrilled.

"Daddy, can we eat this all the time?" Trucy bounced in her seat.

Phoenix let out a small laugh, "Sure, Trucy, no problem. This may be all we can afford for a while anyway."

"Yay!"

* * *

Later that night, belly full and sleep deprived, Phoenix got into his bed as usual when he heard his bedroom door crack open slightly.

"Umm...Daddy?" Trucy looked over at Phoenix rubbing her tired eyes.

"Is everything alright, Trucy?"

"Yeah...I was just...c-can I sleep with you tonight?"

Phoenix was hesitant at first, considering the potential laws he could break by allowing this, he had enough trouble with the law as it is. However, he _was _adopting her, so it's not like it would be anything creepy. And anyway, the ex layer didn't know what it was, but for some reason he was having a hard time saying 'no' to the little magician.

"Alright, come on." He patted the space next to him to which Trucy ran on and got under the covers. Phoenix took the top blanket and tucked her in accordingly, until she was as snug as a bug.

"Goodnight, Daddy" Trucy yawned as she turned in place.

"Goodnight, Trucy" Phoenix reached over to the nightstand and shut off the lamp, he got under the covers and closed his eyes, and when he was just about to fall asleep he heard:

"I love you, Daddy"

Phoenix smiled, maybe this parenting thing wasn't going to be so bad after all.


End file.
